The ACT Enrollment Planners Conference is now the ACT Enrollment Management Summit

For 33 years, ACT has convened the Enrollment Planners Conference, a one of-a-kind professional development and networking event. Building on this experience, and recognizing that the role of enrollment managers is changing and now more challenging than ever, we are relaunching this conference as the ACT Enrollment Management Summit to better address the professional development needs of enrollment managers. The inaugural ACT Enrollment Management Summit will be held July 18–20, 2018 in Denver, Colorado at the Hyatt Regency Denver. Find out more event info here!

Webinars for Education Professionals

Join us for a series of learning opportunities in March and April with webinars for school and district leadership, counselors, and teachers. These fifty-minute, role-specific webinars will help participants make connections between their ACT data and impacting student and school achievement, and share resources and support materials available to you. Register today and invite others who may benefit from knowing how to better use ACT data!

College and Career Readiness Day: Setting a Higher Standard to Increase Student Success

Three years ago, Affton High School in St. Louis, Missouri sought to improve student learning and readiness for college and career. To achieve their goal, administrators wanted to create a culture around college and career readiness and set a standard that all students who want a higher education have the academic skills to earn one. By dedicating a day to college and career readiness, they have had success.

The results connected with Affton's college and career readiness day have been impressive and demonstrate the value of building a culture of college and career readiness and creating a testing environment that inspires confidence in students and educators.

Center for Equity in Learning Publishes Opinion Pieces in Forbes and the Hill

ACT's Center for Equity in Learning has recently published two opinion pieces. In Forbes Chief Officer Jim Larimore discusses ACT's plans to provide free score reports to students from low-income families and the “micro advantages” that can make all the difference to student success. “We want students from all backgrounds to engage with a full range of colleges, universities, scholarship agencies, and postsecondary programs–and if low-income students are worried about the cost of score reports, we want to take that concern off the table.”

Jim also wrote an op-ed in the Hill that examines the implications the 2020 Census could have for education equity and why it's important for the census to collect accurate data that “reflects the heterogeneity of different racial populations” in the U.S. Specifically, “more accurate data reveal who is attending schools and universities, open the door for a better understanding of student needs, and aid in more narrowly focusing attention on supporting those needs.”

STEM Education in the U.S.: Where We Are and What We Can Do

ACT will release STEM Education in the U.S.: Where We Are and What We Can Do, our report on the ACT-tested graduating class of 2017 and their interest and proficiency in STEM, on March 8. The report addresses eight key findings that should draw the attention of educators and policymakers across the country, as well as recommendations on what can be done to improve the state of STEM in the United States. The national report, as well as supplemental state reports, will be accessible from March 8 on at www.act.org/STEM.

ACT Academy To Launch 3.22.2018

ACT® Academy™, a free online learning tool and test practice program, will be open to students on 3.22.2018

ACT Academy will provide students with engaging content and materials developed by ACT, Khan Academy, NASA, PBS and other learning organizations in one convenient place. Students receive the resources that have been proven to be most effective for each skill. It will include the high-quality materials of OpenEd, the leading online resource library for K-12 teachers.

ACT Academy will be compatible with all devices and will allow students to work on building their skills anytime, anywhere they have internet access. Parents, teachers, and counselors can also use ACT Academy to help students study and learn. Sign up at www.act.org/academy to receive notifications when this new solution is available!

Save the date for the Workforce Summit!

The ACT Workforce Summit is scheduled to take place October 8-10, 2018 in the Hyatt Regency in New Orleans. Mark your calendars! For more info, visit here.

Schools can begin preparing for next year by reviewing the 2018-2019 ACT district testing dates. The ACT District Testing Program increases college access and opportunities for all students when school districts administer the ACT® test to all students during the school day.

District Testing: Key Dates and Deadlines

Test Sessions*

Dates (Paper)

Dates (online)

Enrollment Deadline

Fall 2018

October 2, 2018 (initial)

October 16, 2018 (makeup)

N/A

June 22, 2018

Early Spring 2018

February 20, 2019 (initial) March 12, 2019 (makeup)

February 20-22, 2019 February 26-28, 2019

TBD

Late Spring 2018

April 2, 2019 (initial)

April 24, 2019 (makeup)

April 2-4, 2019

April 9-11, 2019

TBD

* Districts may participate in one of the two spring test dates.

Online testing is available as an option to schools testing in the spring. The program benefits students by providing:

Free college-reportable ACT scores that they can use to apply to colleges and for financial aid and scholarships.

Free online ACT test Prep tools including ACT Academy, launching this month. ACT Academy includes test practice resources to help students master the skills they need to for the ACT test.

Participating states and districts use the ACT District Testing data to establish baseline information on student performance, receive information on all students' academic achievement and college readiness levels, make informed curriculum decisions and design individual intervention strategies for students who are not on track for college and career readiness.

WORK READY COMMUNITIES

The Work Ready Communities completed Round Two of the WRC training academy with a group in Nashville and two special groups linked up from two different regions of Virginia. Nearly 30 different jurisdictions in two different regions of the Virginia pilot used an innovative two-way video network to hold academy training in each region, linking up the presenters and participants in Abingdon and South Boston, VA. The Work Ready Communities team is eager to expand this pilot and other methods to expand the reach and impact of academy training.

Southwest UpdatesThe Arkansas ACT Summit is sold out for the 2nd year in a row. This sellout took place even though capacity for the event was expanded by 50% from 200 to 300 attendees. Thanks to the Arkansas ACT Council for their support and leadership in making this a must attend event!

The first ever Louisiana ACT Symposium has sold out! Thanks to the Louisiana ACT Council for their leadership and determination in creating this new event. The Louisiana ACT Council will also be hosting a Pre-Symposium event at the Louisiana Governor's Mansion to recognize Louisiana's 2018 College and Career Readiness Champions. The First Lady of Louisiana, Donna Edwards, will be the keynote speaker for the awards ceremony.

The Arizona ACT Council hosted a very successful and innovative conference. This year's conference opened with a reverse college fair. Educators could network with each other and talk with college admissions and college access professionals. The conference then moved into two rounds of short 18 minute TED Talk like Ed Talk Sessions before moving in a round of longer 50 minute breakout sessions. The short sessions allowed the conference attendees to attend a wider variety of sessions while making easier for everyone to maintain their energy and attention.

Whitelisting: How to ensure you receive emails from ACT State Organizations

You don't want to miss any newsletters or important emails from ACT State Organizations.Here is how to prevent our emails and newsletters from taking a trip to your junk email folder.

Participate in an ACT Workforce Pilot Study

ACT is piloting an assessment of workplace social and emotional learning skills, otherwise known as soft skills. This assessment is meant to help entry-level employees develop the soft skills they need in order to be successful on the job. We are looking for organizations to participate in a pilot study with employees and their supervisors.

Employees would take the pilot version of the soft skills assessment, which assesses skills such as sustaining effort, getting along with others, and maintaining composure. Supervisors would fill out a standard performance rating form that assess the employees' job performance on several dimensions. The employee would spend around 30 minutes taking the assessment, and the supervisor would spend 10-15 minutes per direct report employee filling out the performance rating form. Responses would be kept strictly confidential and would be used solely for research purposes to establish the predictive validity of the soft skills assessment.

In return for participating in this study, your organization will receive an aggregate report of where your employees as a whole stand on their soft skills. Interested? Sign up here.